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Felix OK, but hip soreness forces early exit

8/16/14: Felix Hernandez ends his streak of pitching seven-plus innings while yielding two runs or less at 16 games after exiting in the 6th

By Matt Slovin
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MLB.com |

DETROIT -- Felix Hernandez exited Saturday night's 4-2 loss to the Tigers after five innings due to the hip injury he suffered on a comebacker to the mound.

The injury, combined with his rising pitch count, forced an end to his run of 16 consecutive outings in which he threw at least seven innings and allowed no more than two runs.

"It's over," Hernandez said after the game, when asked about the end to the historic streak. "Start a new streak."

Not since 1900 had a pitcher gone that long under those standards.

Hernandez described himself as "pretty sore" after the game, saying Ian Kinsler's comebacker "hit me pretty good." He doesn't expect the hip injury to impact his next start, however.

It's possible that the memorable streak wouldn't have come to an end Saturday had Kinsler not clipped Hernandez's hip on his groundout. Hernandez was at 49 pitches through just two innings, and he served up a long home run to Detroit's Nick Castellanos in the fourth. But after Castellanos' shot, Hernandez seemed to settle in a bit. He retired five of the next six batters he faced, giving him at least a fighting chance of making it through two more frames to extend the streak.

"I know we would've marched him right back out there [had he not been hurt]," Hernandez's catcher, Mike Zunino, said.

Instead, he had to come out of the game, tying his shortest start of the year. Meanwhile, his counterpart, David Price, lived up to his end of the bargain.